Cardioectomy
by Mononoke-hime x sukai kurora
Summary: Andy Yablonski has lost a part of himself since his wife told him she doesn't love him anymore. At near death, and with his life hanging in balance, will his colleagues and family be able to save him? Will Rena and Andy have another chance?
1. Chapter 1

Dr. Andy Yablonski could still picture his wife's face in his mind. He could see her gentle smile, the very smile that made him fall in love with the detective that she became again. He remembered caressing her long hair with his hands, the soft and thick dark brown hair that he loved to touch. Andy remembered Rena's voice. Her voice could be tender and loving at times, and at others, her voice could be as cold and as hard as the winter wind. Her lips too could be soft and yielding to his touch, and at times burning with passion when they made love. That was when they were happily married. Now, because of lies, deceit, and mistakes, Andy could lose the woman he loved. Did he love her still? He wasn't certain. Since their last meeting, Andy had not seen his wife. _"Your date's waiting," _she had told him. He swallowed his bitter anger and grief inside him. Rena had seen him with Dr. Lisa Reed, an ER resident. He recalled Rena's eyes, of how they burned with hurt and anger. Her voice was cold when she told her husband that his date was waiting for him inside. Andy hadn't seen her since. _Where did it go wrong? _Andy thought. He and Rena were passionate about their professions. She was cop, and he was a doctor. For years they had been content with loving each other even when there weren't enough hours in the day. Sometimes the couple wouldn't even see each other until the dead of night. _Or was it just sex? _A voice whispered in Andy's ear. It was true that during most nights they were together, they had made love many times. But Andy knew it had to be deeper than that. It _had_ to be. Why else would his heart still beat frantically when he saw Rena Yablonski, his brunette beauty? Why would he feel that he would do anything for her? Now his feelings were confused and damaged. _"Like our marriage, Andy." _Rena's voice whispered in his ear again, and Andy had to choke down the bile in his throat. _"It's over. It's been over for a long time, because I…"_

_Don't think about that, _Andy told himself. He took a deep breath to calm down his breathing rate. He was becoming tachypneic. A moan escaped from his lips. _She doesn't love me anymore. _Against his will, the memory resurfaced. Rena had entered in his office, saying that they needed to talk earlier that morning. Andy could vaguely remember what they said to each other. Lisa Reed had come up during the conversation – no, argument. He remembered saying words that he didn't mean, and he burned with shame at the thought. Rena had told him that their marriage was over, it had been over for a long time. Andy had interrupted at that point, telling Rena that he remembered what she wore when he first saw her; frayed jeans with a pink t-shirt. She was wearing sandals, even in the early autumn of 1981; people said that if you truly loved someone, you could remember what they were wearing when you first met them. Andy had hoped that Rena too could remember the lost boy that had been him almost thirty years ago, but she didn't, she said. _"I don't love you anymore, Andy."_ Andy pressed his head against the desk. He still fought to control his breathing, and bit his lip from crying out. _"I'm sorry," _she had said to him as he stood beside his desk, silent. He was numb, and didn't notice when she brushed her hand against his. Then she left his office without a backward glance. Andy had wanted to call to her, or even scream at her, but he couldn't find his voice. Another moan escaped Andy's lips, and he lifted his head from the desk. His eyes stung, and he clumsily moved from his desk, noting that every step he took seemed to take his all his energy. _"You need a life, Andy. A life outside this hospital." _Dr. Jordan was speaking to the broken man. _"Someone to love, someone to hold you when you cry." _Andy had come to tears once, when Scott Becker had died. Lisa had comforted him in more ways than one, but Andy was certain that Lisa wasn't what Dr. Jordan meant. _That boy…he too needed someone to love him._ The lost boy who had been Andy was now gone, a ghost in his mind. Now Rena was gone too. Andy felt the tears coming, but he blinked them back. _I truly wish… _

"Andrew?"

Andy turned around. Dr. Luc Bovell was behind the younger doctor. The arrogance that normally fixated his face was replaced by concern. He was looking at Andy's face, which was pale and his blue eyes were red-rimmed.

"Andrew," Luc licked his lips nervously, not knowing what to say. Andy knew that Luc, his colleague and rival, had not seen him in this state before. He waited for Luc to speak again. "Andrew," Luc began again, his voice more stable now, "are you feeling ill?"

"No," came Andy's answer. His voice was hoarse and hollow. It surprised him that he wasn't irritated by Luc calling him by his given name. "I'm not ill, Luc." He tried to feign a smile, but his lip muscles only twitched. "I'm…" he turned away, leaving the sentence hanging.

"Koul – " Luc began, but Andy's cell phone rang at that moment.

"Yablonski," he answered, closing his eyes and massaging his temples. He recognized the voice, and had hoped that he would not be hearing that voice again. "Michael –" Andy started to say, but Michael interrupted him. He listened as his uncle talked to him, his mouth becoming a more somber and grimmer line than it had before as Michael continued to talk. "Okay," Andy said, "okay." He listened to his uncle, not meeting Luc's bewildered gaze. "Now?" He couldn't understand why Michael had to meet with him now. "Michael, I can't. I have patient." He sighed, massaging his temples again as Michael pleaded with him. "Alright," Andy relented, running his hands through his short dark brown hair. "I'll meet with you now at the same place we've met before. I'll see you then. Good-bye." The call ended, and Andy faced Luc. "I have to go," he told his colleague. Before Luc could reply, Andy took off his white lab coat and put his brown jacket on. He didn't meet Luc's gaze. "I have to meet with someone."

For once, Luc was speechless. He could only watch as Andy set his stethoscope on his desk, and started to open the door to the office. "Don't worry, Luc. I know I'm supposed to have an appointment with Koul soon, but I'll be back before then." His voice sounded strange, even to himself. Luc made no reply as Andy exited the door. "What do I tell Dr. Jordan?" Luc shouted to Andy as he walked down the hall. If Andy heard, he choose to not to hear him. His mind remained focused on Michael…and Rena. At last the tears he held in fell, but he didn't stop to wipe them away. _I truly wish I was that boy again. _


	2. Chapter 2

"Hi, Koul. My name is Dr. Bovell, and I will be substituting for Dr. Yablonski for your appointment today." Dr. Luc Bovell shook Koul's hand as he sat down in the chair beside the young Sudanese man. He was met with a perplexed gaze as the young man sat on top of the small table.

"Where is Andy?" The young man's lively eyes were now sharp with surprise and anxiety.

"Andrew is…" Luc tried to find the right word for Andrew's situation. Why had the normally composed doctor disappeared as sudden as he did, and when one of his heart transplant patients was waiting for him? "Andrew is somewhere, Koul," he said with a convincing smile. "He'll come back soon, especially since I heard that you and he are close."

Koul didn't respond well to Luc's reassurance. In fact, he seemed to become more agitated. "His name is _Andy_," he said through his thick Sudanese accent. "He doesn't like it if you call him Andrew." Koul paused for a moment, and the added nervously, "Where did Andy go?"

Luc shrugged his shoulders flamboyantly. "I don't know." He seemed uncomfortable. "What matters is that I'm here, and that Andrew will soon be back."

Koul was about to correct Luc again about Andy's name when Dr. Miranda Foster entered the examining room. "Do you have any _idea_ where Andy is?" The rebellious woman also seemed agitated, and she tapped her foot impatiently. "Dr. Reed needs him in the ER, and if he's not here, then someone is going to have to assist in the ER, because he certainly isn't with Koul or you, Dr. Bovell. I don't where he is, and I'm about to call security." Miranda seemed winded, and was more than angry, Luc noticed. There was worry in her eyes.

"Has Andrew ever done this before?" Luc faced her. He was no longer uncomfortable, and he seemed calmer than Miranda or Koul. _That's because I haven't worked with him in years. _

"Once," answered Miranda, "but…" she trailed off, and then shook her head. "He's never been gone for more than an hour, and it's passed that." A hint of fear crept in her voice. "Has he gone AWOL?"

"Yes." Luc was strangely calm. "I think he has."

* * *

><p>Andy was sitting next to a man in dim bar. He hadn't meant to stay more than an hour, but this man had other problems. Andy looked at him. The man was older, with wrinkled skin and graying temples. He was swallowing a mouthful of alcohol, squinting his eyes nervously at whoever entered the door. The man appeared to be very relieved to have Andy with him, although they hadn't started talking yet.<p>

"What do you want this time, Michael?" Andy asked bluntly to his uncle. The watery-blue eyes looked up at him.

"I want your help," he rasped. Michael only got as far as that.

"I'm not helping a murderer," stated Andy coldly.

"Murder?" Michael repeated with a laugh. He glanced over his shoulder nervously before facing his nephew again. "It was an accident. Paul –"

"Paul is dead," Andy growled, "and his body was found with the bullet you put in his head."

Michael feigned innocence. "Are you a detective now?"

"No," Andy admitted. He would not meet Michael's gaze. "I am married to one, though." He had to stop from biting his lip at those words. _"I don't love you anymore."_

"You're not married, Andrew." Anger coated Michael's voice like honey. "You don't even live in the same house as your wife." Andy's surprise was seen clearly on his face. "Do you think I don't know you? I've raised you and Rena as if you were my own." Michael paused to lick his lips, and didn't seem to notice the pain in Andy's eyes when he mentioned how he and Rena had grown up together. "And I know you, Andrew. I know you better than you know yourself. You want to come back to the world of crime with me. Why else would you come to see me after all this time?" Andy's cell phone interrupted him, and they both watched it silently as it rang for a moment. Then Andy tried to answer it as Michael slammed his hand down on his nephew's own. "Don't answer it," he growled. Andy glared, but kept his hand still.

"Andy, it's Dr. Jordan," said the voicemail. "Where the hell are you? Miranda tells me that you've been gone for over an hour. We need you here."

Andy held his breath as he heard Dr. Jordan's voice vibrating through the phone. He felt as if she was in the room with him. He wished that she was, because then he wouldn't be in this suicidal situation with Michael. _I actually hope that she'll lecture me when I return._

"Was that one of your colleagues?" Michael's voice brought Andy into the present. He stiffly nodded. "Do you really think that they will accept you once they know the truth about you? What you did? They won't accept you for who you are, my boy. They're not your friends. Only I will accept you as you are. Stop playing doctor, Andrew." His voice was reduced to a pleading tone. "This is where you truly belong." He didn't let go of Andy's hand as he spoke. Andy felt his own heart rate accelerate as Michael said those dreaded questions, about his past, about his colleagues at Three Rivers. He withdrew his eyes from Michael's gaze. There was no telling if they would understand him or his past. He had to tell them the truth this time when he came back. Perhaps they would surprise him, as Rena did. Andy closed his eyes, and saw his wife as a girl of seventeen. She was willowy and had long and flowing dark brown hair. _"I'll always watch out for you." _His heart rate increased again, but it wasn't because of fear this time.

"Maybe it was, back then." Andy said to Michael. "But now my place is there. I belong there. Three Rivers, my hospital, is where I belong, not with you."

Andy didn't look back as he walked away.

* * *

><p>He wasn't far away from the bar when he heard a crunch of snow behind him. He looked around and saw Casper standing in front of him.<p>

"Hello, Casper."

"Yablonski," Casper acknowledged. Andy saw that he held a knife in his hand. It gleamed like an aneurism beside the soft white snow.

"You know," said Andy, "you can't easily murder me with that."

"And how is that?" Casper snarled.

"Well, come to think of it, there are a number of ways that you could –"

"Shut up!" Casper took a step forward as he edged near Andy. Andy carefully backed away into the alley. Casper followed. "I don't care about what your uncle needs. I just want to never to see you again."

Andy didn't blink. His memories of his hated youth came back to him, and he didn't feel afraid of Casper for some reason. "Go ahead, Casper. My heart is gone anyway." He said this with more emotion than he intended, and he wasn't prepared for the punch to the face.

Andy's head collided with the brinks, and a burst a pain escalated through his skull. He was still on his feet though, and he glanced towards Casper's direction. The older man was a muscular as ever, and as always, he was ready for a fight. He didn't give Andy time to respond. Casper punched Andy in the stomach, causing the wind to be knocked out of the younger man. He fell to his knees, where Casper kicked him hard in the face. Blinding pain rendered Andy useless as he felt the kicks smashing his face and head. He tasted blood, and it felt as if needles were pushing through his dermis. The attack seemed to stop for a second, and Andy tried to blink out the blood out of his eyes. He also tried to stand, but was lifted up off the ground as if he was a small kitten. Casper's squinting eyes stared at him, and he managed to spit a splatter of blood on his face. Casper roared, and then slammed Andy's right lateral side onto the hard concrete. The younger man's right arm shattered. Waves of agony pierced Andy through his entire body, and he screamed so loud it seemed as if the entire city of Pittsburgh could hear.

"Shut up!" Casper yelled to Andy's cries. He then pulled out his gleaming knife, and thrust it into Andy's abdomen. Andy's screams did cease. He gasped as the knife was pulled out, gleaming with his blood. He felt nauseous and again tried to scream, but only his gasps and waves of agony answered him. He felt blood drip down onto his jacket, and felt it coat his scrubs. He tried to breathe, and chocked on air, not able to speak. Casper threw him down onto the ground where Andy lay sprawled, gasping and seeping more blood onto the white snow. His cell phone had fallen out of his pocket during the fight, and now it gleamed illegible letters from the screen. He found his consciousness fading.

"Goodnight, Yablonski," Andy heard a faint voice and steps that echoed in his ears. Pain came in waves, from his right arm, head, face, and umbilical area. _No… _He felt something that was not blood fall onto the ground where his blood coated around him. _I…_

Then the nightmare ceased, and the snow continued to fall onto the motionless body of the surgeon.


	3. Chapter 3

Detective Rena Yablonski almost expected her estranged husband calling when she recognized the phone number flashing on her cell phone. Instead it was Miranda.

"Yablonski," she answered.

"Hey, Rena. It's Miranda. Andy has been missing for the past hour and- a-half, and he's not answering his cell." Rena heard herself take a breath as she realized what Miranda was saying. Her mind flashed back to the earlier conversation that she had with Andy. _"I don't love you anymore." _Why that why he was missing? "I've called security, but they haven't found him on any of the floors. Do you know where he could be?"

"Did you check the roof?" Rena asked.

"The what?"

"The roof," Rena repeated. "The roof on Three Rivers." She remembered early in their marriage that Andy had said that the roof was his favorite place of the hospital because it helped to sort out his thoughts.

"Yes, I did." Miranda said after a moment. Rena could easily hear the anxiety in the younger woman's voice. "I don't know why he disappeared like that," she confessed. "He _never_ leaves Three Rivers."

_That's because Three Rivers is his home,_ Rena thought. "Who was the last person to see him leave?"

"Dr. Luc Bovell. He was in Andy's office when Andy left the hospital."

Rena stifled a groan at Miranda's words. She remembered how Andy used to rant – in a negative light – about Dr. Luc Bovell. She had met him once, when he was a surgical fellow. He didn't seem to mind that he annoyed her husband ceaselessly by calling him Andrew, and by calling _her_ sweetheart. "Can I talk to Dr. Bovell please?" Rena asked. Whatever internal feelings she had for the physician, Rena had to talk with him.

"Here you go," Miranda said with a sigh. Rena knew she despised Dr. Bovell even more than she did.

"Hello, Rena." _His voice is arrogant as ever. _"I see you're a detective now, and you're still married to Andrew –"

"If you don't mind, Dr. Bovell," Rena said through gritted teeth, "I would like to find my husband. If you don't mind, I want to know why he left Three Rivers in the first place."

She heard Dr. Bovell inhale a breath at her sharp words. "He got a phone call."

"What?" Michael Zelasko's face flashed through her mind. "Who was calling?"

"I don't know," Dr. Bovell admitted. His voice sounded hollow. "Andrew seemed to be upset about the phone call, even more when I first came into his office."

"Do you mean he was upset before?" Rena asked. She remembered her husband's devastated face earlier that day.

"He seemed distressed. It was almost as if he was…" Dr. Bovell struggled to find the words. Rena held her breath. "Shaken. I haven't ever seen him broken like that in my years working with him. When I came into the room, he didn't really know I was there."

Silence enveloped between them. At last Rena spoke. "How long has Andy been gone?"

"Along with the time talking with you…I'd say he's been gone for two and-a-half hours."

"Okay," Rena said. "Is there anything else I need to know before I look for him?"

"Yeah. Andrew said that he would meet a person named Michael at the same place where they last met. I don't know what that means." There was a pause in Dr. Bovell's voice. "Does that mean you know where he is?"

"Yes," Rena answered. She grabbed her badge and gun from her desk. She gestured to Phillip Lombardi, her partner, who immediately followed her out of the police station. "I do."

* * *

><p>"Did you see these men sitting here in your bar earlier this morning?" Rena asked the bartender. It had taken both her and Phillip an hour to arrive at the bar across the river. Neither Andy nor Michael were seen along the way. Rena tried to calm the dread that was filling in her chest. Phillip stood by, watching the confrontation between the two.<p>

"I might have," stated the bartender vaguely. He reached for another bottle to wash when Rena shoved the black and white picture of Andy and Michael in his face.

"Have you seen them?" she whispered dangerously.

The bartender swallowed nervously. "Yeah, I did. Around one o'clock this afternoon."

"What were they doing?"

"I don't know!" The bartender raised his hands in exasperation. "Talking. I couldn't make out what they were saying. Then the old guy pressed his hand against the tall one to prevent him from answering the phone."

"I see." Miranda had also told Rena that Dr. Jordan had called Andy on his cell phone. "Was there a voicemail?"

"Yes," the bartender's face was shining with perspiration. "There was someone named Dr. Jordan calling."

"What happened then?" Rena kept her voice under control even as she felt the control slipping.

"The tall one walked away. I didn't pay much attention after that, except when…" he hesitated slightly.

"What?" Rena pressed on.

"I heard a scream." The bartender slightly shuddered. "It was a scream of pain and agony. I'm surprised no one else heard it. Then it stopped."

Rena's heart seemed to halt for a second, and the question burning through her mind wouldn't come out. Phillip asked, noticing Rena's tension.

"Do you know where the scream came from?" He stood by his partner.

"Yeah. I think it was a couple of blocks over beside this place." The bartender licked his lips. "Although the guy is probably –"

He didn't finish his sentence because the two cops ran outside the bar.

* * *

><p>They found him lying on his side. Andy's face was pale as the snow that covered him, and blood continued to flow from the stab wound even when he was unconscious. Blood coated his scrubs and brown jacket, and multiple lacerations scrapped his head, and his left arm dangled at an awkward angle. Rena crouched down toward her husband. He had never been so still. A faint breath reassured her that Andy was still getting enough oxygen to his brain. His skin felt cool to the touch as she felt for a pulse.<p>

"This is Detective Phillip Lombardi. We have an injured doctor on…"

Rena didn't dare to breathe as she felt for Andy's pulse and as Phillip spoke the 911 operator. Then she exhaled the breath she had been holding as Phillip ended the call.

"He's got a pulse."


	4. Chapter 4

Dr. Miranda Foster's phone call ended as Luc handed back her cell phone. Her colleague handed back the ridiculously expensive cell phone into her hands, and didn't mind that Luc was standing close to her. Miranda had called Rena, Andy's wife, in hope to find out where he could be. Instead of getting an answer, however, she had more questions than before. Luc had said that Andy was distressed, and apparently more so after the phone call with a mysterious person named Michael. She recalled the day when Andy seemed off months ago, and of how he left the hospital abruptly as well. Could the two incidents be connected? _"He seemed…shaken." _Somehow Miranda had a feeling that Andy's feelings pushed him to leave the hospital; he would have never left otherwise.

"What do you mean that Andy was distressed?" Miranda asked Luc. He seemed busy with straightening his white coat, and then looked at her surprisingly, as if he were out of a trance. He sighed briefly before he responded.

"Andrew didn't seem to fully realize I was there," Luc replied carefully. "He seemed to be ill almost, because his eyes were red-rimmed and his voice was hollow. It was like he was lost. He didn't even react when I called his name."

Miranda had seen those "symptoms" before. Grieving members of a patient's family often reacted the same way Luc was describing Andy. Scott's parents had reacted that way too, Andy had told her, although he was as heartbroken about Scott's death as his parents were. He had a special bond with Scott, as he did with Koul. Miranda clenched her fists in frustration. _Where are you, Andy?_

"What will we tell Dr. Jordan?" Luc's voice brought her out of her thoughts. "Do we simply tell her that Andrew is missing?" Before Miranda could reply, Ryan Abbott ran up to them.

"Do you know where Dr. Yablonski is?" He seemed winded with excitement. "UNOS found a heart for one of his patients." Neither of the physicians responded. "What's wrong?" he asked hesitantly. Miranda and Luc looked at each other. Suddenly their answer to the problem seemed clear.

"Ryan, tell Dr. Jordan that Dr. Yablonski is missing. We don't know where he is, but his wife is looking for him. Dr. Bovell will take over Andy's patients until then," Miranda said.

"I understand that, but…" Ryan's speech faltered. "Who is Dr. Yablonski's wife?"

"Detective Rena Yablonski." Miranda ran her fingers through her hair. She didn't respond to Ryan as he stuttered for a few seconds before he ran off to find Dr. Jordan. Miranda sighed. She hasn't expected this.

"All we can do is wait," she told herself as Luc waved a half-hearted farewell to the ICU. _He hates me now for giving him someone else's patients. He and Andy are still icy to each other. _Miranda was certain that Rena could find her husband. Andy used to talk proudly about his wife's detective skills before they separated. She recalled Rena's calm and controlled voice, and wondered if she was shaken with the same fear as she was. He was her husband, after all. Miranda's thoughts stopped when she saw Dr. David Lee walking towards her. His normal expressionless face was creased with worry. Pam Acosta was beside him as well, with her hands on her hips, also trying to conceal her distress, but was less successful. "What do we do now, Miranda?" She was chewing her bottom lip, and David was looking at her expectantly.

"We wait," came Miranda's reply, "and hope that he comes back to us."

And wait they did. For an hour, the three received no sign of their colleague and friend. Ryan was circling around his computer, pacing. Dr. Jordan was exasperated with the situation, but she allowed Miranda to visit Koul, who was in the waiting room while David, Pam, and Luc treated patients. Like Ryan, Koul seemed restless, looking occasionally at the clock. He had been waiting in Andy's office for over an hour before Dr. Jordan told Miranda to direct him to the waiting room. Koul was unusually silent, and he wouldn't meet Miranda's gaze for long.

"Andy will have no idea what horror he has put us through," she said jokingly to him. He slightly gave a laugh, and she sat down in the chair across from him. Although she didn't show it, Miranda was anxious too. Andy had been missing for more than three hours, and she wasn't used to not having him trailing her around the hospital. They were inseparable, not just because they were mentor and student. Andy was Miranda's closet friend, and he was the one that made her love the hospital, as he did, rather than continue to hate the hospital during the days of her youth.

"He saved my life," Koul began. He sighed deeply, and looked at Miranda. "He saved my life when no one else could, and never gave up on me even when I accepted death." The young Sudanese man fell silent.

"What are you trying to say?" Miranda asked. She considered holding his hand, but stopped.

"Andy does not accept death, Miranda." Koul's voice was eerily calm and strangely inaudible. "How can he accept his own if he couldn't accept mine?"

"Andy will _not_ die, Koul." Miranda said fiercely. Somehow his statement made her angry. It didn't seem possible that Andy would die. "You call him the Great Dr. Yablonski for a reason." Koul didn't reply. He seemed to want to say something else when Miranda's cell phone rang. It was a text message from Rena. _We found him_, the message stated. Miranda found her heart rate quicken. _You need to go to the ER now. Someone has to be with him when he comes in. I'm with him now, but I'm not a surgeon. _That was the message. Miranda's heart quickened once she realized what Rena meant. Andy was in bad shape. Somehow Rena knew that something what internally wrong with her husband. Miranda would have to see if she was right.

"Koul, I have to go to the ER. Sit tight, all right?" She didn't know if Koul had answered her as she quickly walked – well, ran – to the stairs. _Luckily the ER is only one floor down_, she thought. Her thoughts quickly turned to Andy. From Rena's message, the ambulance should arrive in a couple of minutes. How extensive were his injuries that even Rena knew that he needed a surgeon? Miranda nearly collided with David as she was almost down to the door leading to the ER.

"Have they found Andy?" He asked, noticing Miranda's tense expression.

"Yes," Miranda said. "Rena told me that he's in bad shape. She wants us to be with him when he comes in." She didn't waste any time opening the door to the ER. David followed in pursuit.

"What have we got?" Miranda and David recognized the level-headed voice of Dr. Lisa Reed. She was following a team of EMTs and paramedics as the stretcher rolled in. Although they couldn't see the patient's face, both physicians knew that the patient was Andy Yablonski. Miranda and David joined Lisa as soon as the stretcher came into the ER room.

"33 year old male, pulse 120/80, BP 60/80 PALP," stated the EMT as the stretcher continued to roll. "Multiple lacerations around the head, extensive blood loss from the umbilical region, simple radial and ulna fracture, and respirations of 30."

Lisa was listening to Andy's lungs with her stethoscope. "I agree," she stated, pulling away from Andy's chest. "His breathing is rapid and shallow, and his pulse is up. Okay, on the count of three." The stretcher wheeled to a stop at across a hospital bed. "One, two, three." Miranda, David, and Lisa lifted Andy from the stretcher. Miranda focused on Andy's head while Lisa and David focused on the umbilical wound. She vaguely heard Lisa calling for gauze. A scalp wound was seen on his right and left side of his head, and she noticed drainage from his nasal cavity. "Andy," she called his name loud and clear in his face. He didn't respond by opening his eyes or squeezing her hand when she asked if he could. He was still unconscious. Miranda took out her penlight and took a look at his eyes. His pupils were dilated and fixed.

"Pupils fixed and dilated. I need a CT of his head, neck, and chest to see if there are any internal injuries," Miranda stated to an RN as she closed Andy's eyes.

"Yes, doctor."

"Hey, Miranda." David called her over to look over Andy's umbilical wound. "I think he has a hemothorax." He pulled off the gauze to reveal the wound. Blood still pulsed from it, but steadily declined because of the anticoagulant meds. "His blood is supposed to be crimson, right?" She nodded as Lisa came over towards them. "But the blood here and on his face is darker. I think his body isn't getting enough oxygen because of a hemothorax."

"His skin is also clammy and cool," Lisa added. "His pulse is high, and his BP is low. His breathing his fast and shallow. I need a chest tube, STAT!" A nurse appeared with a chest tube moments later, and handed it to Lisa, who put the chest tube in Miranda's hands. "You need to do this," she said. For the first time Miranda heard anxiety in the younger doctor's voice. She nodded, and slowly inserted the chest tube inside of Andy's chest as soon as she made an incision. Blood immediately flowed through it. "Whoa," Miranda said. "We've got a bleeder. David, call the OR. We need to stop the bleeding in his chest." David nodded, and disappeared to the front desk. "Okay, we need to move Andy now."

"Is he going to survive the operation?" Miranda turned to find Rena standing beside her as a team of nurses and doctors moved Andy from the ER. Rena was calm the entire time he was wheeled in. At the corner of her eye, Miranda saw her waiting patiently as they worked on her husband. She was outside the doctor's reach so that Andy could receive the best possible treatment. Now Rena seemed slightly tense, her arm muscles tightening as was Andy wheeled to the elevator to the OR. Her voice did not betray her, but Miranda knew she must be fighting a battle inside, even though she and Andy had been separated for more than half a year now.

"I don't know, Rena." Miranda told her truthfully. "His condition could change at any time. There is a chance of a crash because his organs aren't getting enough oxygen along with his recent trauma. We'll have to wait and see." As she walked quickly – well, ran again – she saw Lisa put her arm on Rena's shoulder for comfort. Who was comforting who? Miranda couldn't tell.

Rena had been waiting in the waiting room for a couple of hours now. Andy at one time called this room a room of despair. She understood what he had meant now. The deathly silence and dread slowly could make even the coldest of criminals insane. Rena had expected to arrive in the waiting room at one point of her life, but she hadn't expected waiting for an update of her husband's condition. The day had been insane, she would admit. She had left Phillip at the crime scene when Andy had been taken into the ambulance. A part of her didn't want to leave her partner, but Rena knew that she should be with her husband. And so she went with him, where he was treated by David and Miranda. Lisa Reed was there as well. She couldn't hide her surprise when Lisa had put her arm on her shoulder. They were both helpless to do anything now. Lisa had treated Andy the best that she could, and Rena could see anxiety coming off from the girl in waves. Rena did what she could for her. She squeezed the girl's shoulder reassuringly, and waited in the room of despair. She still waited after an hour had past, and her mind wandered to the case. Why had Andy met Michael? He had told her himself that he wasn't helping him anymore. Did it have to do with what Rena told him early in the morning? She recalled his how his face had fallen when she told him that she didn't love him. His blue eyes were sharp with pain and barely concealed tears. _Am I the cause of this?_

"Family of Dr. Andy Yablonski." Rena looked up, the voice pulling her out of her thoughts. David was standing in the waiting room. His face was haggard with fatigue. The front of his scrubs was covered with blood.

"How is he?" Rena asked him.

"Well, he lost of a lot of blood. We had to do a transfusion on him. The bleeding in his chest has been fixed with the surgery and coagulant medication. He has multiple cracked ribs too; that's what caused the hemothorax. There is something you should know," he added.

"Yes?" Rena asked.

"Miranda and I looked at the CT. We noticed swelling around the brain, which is –"

"I know what a concussion is, David." Rena said to him. He actually slightly smiled; he was not surprised.

"He crashed twice in the OR, Rena." Now his voice was serious. "At the second time, he went without oxygen for two minutes." She nodded for him to continue. "Andy could have sustained brain damage along with the concussion. He might not regain consciousness for a while." Rena nodded again, noting what David was trying to say. Andy might be brain dead or have sustained irreversible brain damage. "Would you like to see him?" She heard David ask quietly.

"No." Rena said that too quickly. "No," she said more slowly. "I have to find out who did this to him. I've left my partner long enough." She quickly put on her jacket. "Thank you, David," she told the young surgeon.

"You're welcome," he said with a slight smile again, although she thought she heard conviction in his voice. His face was more than haggard with exhaustion, Rena could see, but she didn't reply. She left the waiting room where the crime scene was waiting for her.

The Three Rivers team stood in silence as they watched the figure lying in the hospital bed. A heart monitor beeped while a chest tube produced from the chest. An IV produced from his right arm. It was against protocol to see a single patient with more than two visitors in the ICU, but for once, Dr. Sophia Jordan ignored the rules. Shock concealed any other emotion on her face while she looked at the still form of her fellow colleague in the hospital bed. Andy had a transfusion, Miranda had said. His heart had stopped twice in the OR while they were repairing a hemothorax, but she and Luc tested Andy for brain death, and the result came negative.

"When is he going to wake up, Dr. Jordan?" Ryan asked her, staring at Andy's face, which was mostly covered with gauze.

"When he decides to wake up, Mr. Abbott." Sophia was shocked at the emotion coming from her voice. She was used to her calm manner, not this. "It could be any time."

"Why did Andy's wife leave again?" Koul was sitting beside Andy. Like Ryan, his eyes never left Andy's face. His voice trembled slightly.

"She had a case," Miranda answered with barely concealed disgust. She had reacted strongly with rage as soon as David told her. Her fists were clenched. "I thought she cared about him enough to actually come to his room."

Neither of the team said a word.

"He looks like he's sleeping," Koul said with a soft voice. He touched Andy's hand tenderly.

"And how do you what he looks like when he sleeps?" Pam slightly teased Koul. She edged closer to Andy herself while watching the heart monitor.

Koul gave a small laugh. "I remember when I was still waiting for a heart transplant, and I stole his keys to his hotel. I wanted to play Guitar Hero on his television." Ryan slightly smiled, remembering that incident. "I came into his room early in the morning, and I caught him sleeping. He looked so peaceful, almost as if….his troubles had withered away. He still looks like now," Koul added. "Even now," he softly added. He entwined Andy's fingers into his own. "I never met his wife, but he talked about her sometimes, especially when I was dying." Koul swallowed. Sophia could see that he was in pain. "He always…admired her, and she admired him because he told me that she thought of him as a rock star. I don't understand why they're separated. I don't understand why she didn't see him. According to all of you, Andy and Rena are still in love." His voice cracked. "Why would she not see him?"

At last the tears flowed.


	5. Chapter 5

"The two suspects are in the interrogation room, Rena." Phillip's voice was calm, compared to Rena's demeanor as she drove from Three Rivers to the police headquarters from her cell phone. She knew that Andy's friends and colleagues were upset by her abrupt leave from the hospital. In their opinion, Rena should be at her husband's side. _They don't know about us, _Rena thought as she pulled into a parking space. _They don't know about the affair, or about Andy's past. _In her defense, she had told David that she was going to find out who did this to her husband. In the waiting room, Phillip had called to inform her that the knife found on the crime scene had a print that belonged to a man named Casper McLeay. Casper and his friend, Michael Zelasko, were found drinking in a bar not far from where Andy was stabbed. Phillip and another detective had arrested the parolees on the spot. Now they both were in the interrogation room. Phillip said that Rena could come down when she was ready. Rena knew that her partner meant when Andy's condition was determined, and she was grateful to him. She did want to see Andy when David had offered her, but something held her back. "Casper and Michael won't move a budge." Phillip made Rena's thoughts return to the present. "I think they're not intimidated by me at all." He chuckled.

"We'll see about that," Rena promised as she walked into the headquarters. Then she hung up as she walked to the interrogation room.

"Hello, sweetheart," Michael called to her over the chair that he was sitting in. His hands were cuffed behind him, and he strained his body back and forth to try to free himself. Casper McLeay was motionless. His hands were also cuffed, but he didn't try to move from his prison. His cold eyes followed Rena's every move, composed, unlike Michael's pathetic pleading eyes.

"So," Casper grinned, "this is the second Yablonski."

"What were talking about with Dr. Yablonski this morning at one p.m., Mr. Zelasko? You both were at a bar." Rena ignored Casper. "There was a witness saying that he saw you and Dr. Yablonski there."

Michael would not meet her eyes. He swallowed and then cleared his throat to buy more time, and to convince Rena he was innocent in this matter. Rena was certain that this was what the older man was thinking.

"I'm going to ask you again," Rena said coldly. "What were you talking about with your nephew, Mr. Zelasko?"

"Nothing," Michael answered to his shoes. "I wanted to ask Andrew how he was."

"You're lying, and badly," Phillip growled. This time Michael flinched.

"I wanted him to help me," Michael whispered. "I wanted him in my life again."

"You mean you wanted to use him as you did before," Rena said. She remembered the time when Andy had told her that he was going to be a burglar for Michael. They were sixteen years old, and he had suffered many years of abuse from Michael. _"I'm helping Uncle Mike with his business." _He hadn't added that he was only entering the world of crime because Michael had said that the abuse would stop. She clenched her fists to tame her emotions.

"I wanted him to stop playing doctor." Michael sighed. "He didn't listen. He left, and then I talked to Casper…" his voice trailed.

"And so you got your friend to do your dirty work for you," Phillip concluded. His partner could see disgust and pain in his eyes, although like her he had witnessed countless crimes like this. Only this crime was personal.

"Are we going to be arrested for murder now?" Casper laughed at the two cops' faces burning with rage. "Yablonski _wanted_ to die."

"What do you mean?" Rena questioned. She was suspicious.

"Zelasko noticed how his nephew was distressed. At times he seemed to be in his own world. He was in pain when Zelasko mentioned you," he added to Rena. _So even a shit bag like Casper McLeay knew something was wrong,_ Rena thought as she crossed over to him. Phillip was watching them silently. "Yablonski knew he was going to die, and he _wanted_ it," Casper spat to her. "He said to me, "'Go ahead, Casper. My heart is gone anyway.'" Knowing him, something must have shaken him so bad that he welcomed death. And I know that the only thing that would have caused him to be like that is you."

Casper seemed to be reading her mind. _"I don't love you anymore."_

"I never cared about him," Michael added. "He was only a burden to me until he helped me out. Then he turned into someone that I didn't recognize. Andrew became someone that I didn't need anymore."

"So you told Casper to kill him because your hands have all ready been stained," Rena stated with cool certainty.

This time Andy's uncle looked at her. "Yes," he said.

"Rena," Phillip had his hand on her shoulder, and he gestured toward outside. She only nodded, and didn't look back when she closed the door to the interrogation room.

"I think it's time you tell me what's going on," Phillip advised. "You and Andy have been separated for seven months now, and this is too much to be a coincidence." When Rena remained silent, he added, "You can tell me, Rena."

"He had an affair." Her voice came out as hard and as cold as the winter wind. "He slept with one of his colleagues a month ago."

"With Miranda Foster?" His eyes were wide with shock. Phillip was aware of the close relationship Andy had with his student.

"No," Rena said. "Andy had an affair with one of the residents. She works in the ER. Her name is Lisa Reed. I saw him walking with her a couple of weeks ago. He was smiling at her…the smile that he used to have with me."

"Did he confess?" Phillip asked.

"No, he didn't." Rena looked at her partner. She was surprisingly calm. "I could see the guilt and remorse in eyes when he took my hand though. Andy's easy to read, Phillip. I grew up with him."

"Do you still love him?" The question came out from her partner's mouth so unexpectedly that she stared at him. The innocence, the naiveté of the question caught her off guard.

"I don't know." Rena answered truthfully. _"I see the way you look at him." _Rebecca's voice whispered in her ears again. Phillip's fiancée did have a point, however. Rena still looked at Andy with the same love that she had years ago. "He wants things I can't give him, Phillip. I don't know what he expects from me."

"Does he still love you?"

Rena remembered the times when Andy desperately tried to save their marriage, and of how heartbroken he had been when she told him that she didn't love him. "Yes."

"You need to talk with him, Rena." Phillip ignored her as she shook her head. "You can only know if you still love him by being with him. You said that you haven't been spending enough time together. The love is still there, Rena." Phillip smiled at her, and entered the interrogation room again, leaving Rena to her decision.

* * *

><p>Rhonda Becker stood outside Three Rivers hospital. Grief from her son's death, Scott, echoed on her face. Her husband stood beside her, and he squeezed her hand. More than two months ago Scott had died from a failed heart transplant. His body had rejected the heart that Dr. Yablonski had put in him, and Scott's second heart had failed him immediately. She recalled Dr. Yablonski's raw anguish on his face. The young surgeon had comforted Rhonda and her husband the best he could. <em>"Scott was ready to accept death, he wasn't afraid. Because of the anesthesia, I don't think he felt anything when he died. I'm sorry."<em> Although Rhonda had been enveloped in her own grief, she could see Dr. Yablonski struggling to keep his own emotions in line. He had a special bond with Scott. Scott continuously told them stories about Dr. Yablonski after his heart transplant. Scott had been supported by him all the way, and she knew that many people did not believe in Scott. Tears welled in her eyes as she thought of her lost son. Her husband squeezed her hand again, and she nodded to confirm that she was ready to go inside.

"I'm here to see Dr. Yablonski," Rhonda said to the nurse at the information desk.

"Are you here for an appointment? He's not available right now." The nurse avoided her gaze.

"No, I…I'm here to visit him." Now the nurse looked at her. She slightly nodded with a knowing expression. "My husband and I want to visit Dr. Yablonski. I heard he's in the ICU."

"A handful of his former patient' have asked to see him, and we said we couldn't. It's hospital policy. Only the next of kin can see Andy."

"Please," Rhonda's husband interrupted. "He's done so much for us, and for our son."

The nurse didn't know what to do. She looked at Rhonda and the husband beside her and sighed. She knew the story between the Beckers and Dr. Yablonski. "All right," she relented. "Dr. Yablonski's room number is 304. Do you know where the ICU is?" she asked.

"Yes," Rhonda nodded. "Thank you," she added.

The nurse only nodded.

Dr. Andy Yablonski was still as two parents of his former heart transplant patient entered his room. A heart monitor beeped rhythmically, and a tube produced from his chest. Multiple cuts and bruises were covered by gauze, and Rhonda eyed his broken arm. The young doctor's eyes were closed.

"Dr. Yablonski," Rhonda began. "I wanted to thank you again for what you've done for us and for Scott. When he talked about you again and again, it seemed too good to be true. You were so kind to us when Scott passed. You paid for his funeral arrangements, and you loved him as we did. I know that now. You didn't have to keep checking on us, you know." Gently she bent down and kissed him on the cheek. "Thank you so much," Rhonda whispered. "I don't understand why someone would want to do this you." She faced her husband. "I hope they're caught, George."

"They have been, Mrs. Becker."

Rhonda and George turned. A woman was standing before them. Her long brown hair flowed to her back, and expression on her face was hard to place. "I'm Rena Yablonski, Andy's wife. You must be Mr. and Mrs. Becker."

"Your husband was very good to us, Rena." Rhonda gave her a faint smile. "He treated our son, Scott, and when he died, he paid for his funeral arrangements when he didn't have to. He even came to Scott's funeral. Your husband is a very good man." She touched Rena's shoulder reassuringly. "He'll wake up, Rena."

Before she and her husband left the room, she looked back toward Rena. The woman was sitting by his beside in a chair.

* * *

><p>"She said that you are a good man, Andy." Rena didn't expect to find Rhonda and George Becker beside her husband. "Pam said that many of your former patients wanted to visit you. I don't know what to think, Andy. They say that you're a good man, but I don't know what to think of you. Do you still love me?" She sighed. "When you asked me if I remembered what you were wearing when we first met, my answer was no. I lied. I do remember what you wore, including your stained and broken sneakers. Does that mean we still love each other?" Without thinking, she clutched his hand. An IV protruded from it, and Rena was startled from the emotions raging from her mind: fear, pain, anger, and hurt. "I especially remember your eyes. They were full of anguish and pain and loss. You were a lost boy, Andy. And when you looked at me when I told you that I didn't love you, those same eyes stared back at me. It was as if you were five years old again. Does that mean we still have a chance? Andy…?"<p> 


	6. Chapter 6

Rena walked slowly up the stairs that led to the roof of Three Rivers. Two days had past and Andy still hadn't woken up. His condition hadn't changed, his superior, Dr. Jordan had told her early in the morning. Rena had swallowed her disappointment and sadness. She had never seen Andy so still, lying there in the hospital bed. Even as a child, Andy was always moving, always talking around her. Rena was the one who listened to him. She wondered now if his restless personality was a façade. She wondered if he only acted that way around her because he wanted to hide the pain and anguish from the abuse. Andy's face as a child burned in her mind. Two teeth were missing on his bottom, and he was smiling at her despite his black and yellow bruises marking his face. The dark blue eyes no longer seemed lost…they seemed alive, and that was only when he was around Rena. _"I felt so alive when I was around you."_ Her husband's voice echoed in Rena's mind as she continued to walk up the stairs. _"As I feel now, Rena. I feel so…good."_ The smile that he had as he told her that burned in her mind. Now as an adult, his face was strangely peaceful lying there in the hospital bed, as if what she had told him days ago had left his mind. _"I don't love you anymore."_

Rena tried to push Andy away when she said those words. She hoped that he would react, and had hoped that he showed by reacting that he still loved her. Dr. Luc Bovell said Andy was distressed and disoriented. He hadn't even reacted when he called Andy by his given name. He had told her this when he visited her husband shortly after Dr. Jordan left. _"__Knowing him, something must have shaken him so bad that he welcomed death. And I know that the only thing that would have caused him to be like that is you."_ Casper's voice resurfaced. He knew Rena and Andy so well, even now. He knew that the only person that could hurt Andy beyond repair was her. Miranda had been cold when she checked on Andy again this afternoon. _"I know it was you," _Miranda had told the detective icily. _"I know it was you that broke him. You had to push him away from you, and for what? You wanted to break him, to make him feel pain. I know about Lisa," _she added to Rena, her mouth clenched in anger. _"I know what he did to you, Rena, and I know that pain."_ Miranda then looked at Andy's still form with the heart monitor beeping beside him. His face seemed pale, almost as white as the sheets, and the dark blue eyes that Rena had loved so much would not open. Andy's student had turned to her with pain and sadness in her dark gaze. Tears struggled to break free. _"I know what you were trying to do, Rena. You wanted him back, and you wanted him broken." _Miranda tenderly stroked Andy's face. It was something Rena would have done. Tears dripped onto his face, transparent-looking, and slid from his eyelashes as if the tears were his own. _"Well, now you have both." _

Both voices replayed in Rena's mind continuously. Andy had felt at home at Three Rivers. Her husband would just never admit it, because he wanted to feel at home with Rena, who couldn't give him what he desperately wanted, needed. _"You save lives, Andy. What's more important than that?" _Andy had wanted to cleanse himself of his crimes, she knew. Rena also knew that although that time had passed, Andy was still searching for a life worth living, a family, and a home, all of which had been deprived of him in his childhood and adolescence. _Your home is here, Andy, _she thought as she opened the door to the roof. _It always has been. Your family is here, not with me. _Rena had been the one who had suggested the separation. She thought if they were given more time away from each other, then perhaps Andy would be closer at finding himself. She was wrong. Andy was more confused about himself as a person than before, and Rena hadn't expected him to sleep with one of his colleagues. Now they were both close to losing each other and their love more than ever.

Rena stepped onto the roof. A faint smile escaped from her. This was where Andy had spent most of his time, thinking and pondering after his rounds. This was where Andy had proposed to her, years ago, and where they shared their first kiss at seventeen years old. The wind softly blew through her long hair. It was slightly calmed her, and she exhaled, allowing the stress of the last two days to escape from inside her. Andy's face, pale, and his scrubs covered in his own blood, entered unwillingly in her mind. She had seen him broken, bleeding, and _dying_ when she found him in the snow. Had she wanted him to die? Casper had said that Andy had wanted to die. Andy had hardly struggled, the crime scene showed…but Rena hadn't wanted her husband to die.

"This is his favorite place to think," said a voice across from her. Rena recognized the soft timber, and she felt her hand resting on Rena's own. "He would be up here now if…" the voice trailed off. Rena gently pulled her hand away from Dr. Lisa Reed's, and she looked in her sad blue eyes. The ER resident was dressed in royal blue scrubs, and her blond hair was in a pony tail. Her slight frame seemed tense, and her eyes shied away from Rena's gaze. "I'm sorry," she whispered.

"What do you mean?" Rena asked. Lisa met her gaze again, and she was startled to see the depth of guilt in her eyes.

"Remember when you came to see Andy and left?" Lisa asked. Rena nodded. "After you said goodbye, he and I sat in a bar and bought a drink. He wanted to talk with me…about that night, and Andy said that what he had did was a mistake, and he told me that he was sorry, just as I told you," Lisa added to Rena. "He said that he had sex with me because out of grief from Scott's death and confusion." A long pause from Lisa led Rena to suspect that the girl didn't feel the same way.

"Did you feel differently?"

"I don't know." Confusion marred Lisa's face. "We both had feelings for each other, simply physical attraction, but…" she bit her lip before she began to speak again. "Andy comforted me. When a patient, an eight year old boy, came into the ER, I was struck with the memory of my younger sister. She died when I was twelve, and I could never forget the moment of her death. I can close my eyes and still hear her calling for me. That night, Andy was near tears at Scott's death. He was close to the boy, as close as I was to Dylan. Rena, I…comforted him as he comforted me. He was so _sad_, Rena." Lisa's voice ended in a whisper, and Rena held the urge to comfort her. As with Miranda, tears framed Lisa's face. "I don't know if I love him or not. All I know is that he loves you, Rena. When we were talking, he would only talk about you. I could see the pain in his eyes when you didn't allow him to explain his actions, and the raw _guilt_. Andy still loves you, Rena."

Rena said nothing for a moment as Lisa wiped away her tears. She saw how Andy had taken a liking to her. She was compassionate and kind…perhaps she reminded Andy of her former self, the girl that wasn't a cop, the girl who wasn't married to a former criminal. Perhaps that was why Andy liked Lisa so much.

"I know he still loves me, Lisa." Rena said. She was surprised when her voice quivered. She cleared her throat and tried to speak again. "He still does, even after all this time, and after all we've been through." Silently, she motioned Lisa to the door and the young physician followed. "I suppose he's always loved me, and he can't let me go." She smiled slightly again.

"Do you still love him, Rena?" Lisa asked. They were both to the door the led to the ICU now. Rena looked into the younger woman's gaze. She seemed sincere. Rena didn't know what to say. Andy's face, first as a malnourished five year old, and then to a content and sensitive surgeon burned in her mind. Did she still love him? Before she could reply, Rena saw Lisa tense.

"That's the code," she whispered breathlessly. Lisa opened the door with surprising strength, and ran toward the sound. Rena heard machines beeping wildly, and the shock of the defibrillator electrodes and the eerie sound of a flatline. "…Clear!"

"Lisa?" Rena asked, suddenly halting behind the resident. She suddenly felt cold, and she suppressed a shudder. "What – ?"

"We have to stay back," Lisa told her, her voice compassionate but firm. "It's Andy they're working on." Rena didn't make a sound as she heard, "Code blue to room 304, code blue to room 304." Lisa was talking to her again, but Rena vaguely heard. She continued to hear the flatline, and somehow she thought she heard Miranda's and David's voices in the fray. Lisa's question that had been unanswered before echoed her fragile mind.

"_Do you still love him, Rena?"_


	7. Chapter 7

Kuol Adebe Ketebo was sitting in the waiting room with Detective Rena Yablonski. He knew that she was Andy's wife, and he noticed that this was the first time that he saw her up close. She was beautiful. _You chose well, Andy._ Kuol thought wryly as he continued to observe her. Her long hair was thick with dark brown locks, and her eyes gave nothing away, unlike Andy's. Kuol could look into his friend's eyes and know exactly what he was thinking. Rena too was different from Andy. An unknown strength emerged from her, and she was solemn and confident. Andy had inner strength as well, but it only emerged when Kuol was in danger of dying. He never gave up on him, and seemed more saddened than serious at the time.

The two had not spoken. Andy had crashed, and Rena was waiting in the room with Kuol to find out how her husband was doing. She was about to visit him when he had crashed, Kuol gathered. Unlike most of the Three Rivers team, Kuol made no effort to understand why Rena only visited Andy once since he came into the ER. She had her own reasons. _"The truth is, I don't think I have a wife anymore." _Andy's voice whispered into Kuol's ear as he watched Rena's still form, remembering Andy's words that had lingered in regret and sadness. He didn't know what Rena was thinking, but she seemed tense, and cupped her hands to her face from time to time. _I think she still cares about you, Andy, _Kuol thought with a small smile. He remembered one of the last conversations he had with him before Andy was admitted to the hospital.

_"Do you ever regret anything?" Kuol asked with his voice almost a whisper. A heart had still not come, and he found that even opening his eyes exhausted him. He had to talk to Andy though. The man had become quiet since their last meeting, brooding over what Kuol had told him. Kuol had wanted Andy to accept his inevitable death, but Andy had refused to accept his request. He had become dangerously close to the young Sudanese man, just as he did with Scott Becker._

_ Dr. Andy Yablonski faced him. His face was unusually drawn and pale. Dark circles ringed around his eyes, and fatigue clouded his gaze. However, he smiled at his patient and asked, "What do you regret?"_

_ "I regret not being able to save Lam." Kuol still remembered his young friend who had accepted his death, just as Kuol accepted now. He wondered how Lam would react, and a vague smile pulled on his lips._

_ "Hmm." Andy seemed to be lost in his own world as soon as Kuol answered him, and sadness marked his face, making him paler than before. He was brooding again, but this time he seemed to be thinking about something other then Kuol. Andy was thinking of his wife again. Miranda called it "the expression," because Andy's face would become saddened marred by happiness, and he would always have a small smile on his lips. Now however, Andy didn't smile. His eyes seemed to be crying even when there were no tears._

_ "I regret many things, Kuol," Andy stated slowly. "I don't know where to start." A sad laugh escaped from him, and he was silent for a moment. "I love my wife, Kuol. She loves me too. We knew each other for a very long time, and you would think we didn't have any problems because of it. She told me that our homes were not with each other, and we had families. I just didn't see it. I never thought about Three Rivers that way, or Pam or Miranda." Andy faltered, as if pausing to catch his breath. He sighed deep from his chest. "I slept with someone other than my wife, Kuol. I can't undo what I did. I can't undo that night, and I don't know if…our relationship is over. She knows I slept with another woman. My regret is Kuol, I can't tell her that I still love her. That is what I regret." Andy would not meet Kuol's pensive gaze. He seemed to not be aware of anything._

_ "Do you...regret marrying her, Andy?" Kuol asked hesitantly. He was careful with his words, and was still as Andy remained silent._

_ "Not for a second, Kuol." Now he faced Kuol. Andy's eyes glistened with tears. "Not for a second," he repeated softly, caressing his wedding band. "I…" Tears slowly flowed from his eyes, and Kuol did what he had to do. He held Andy's hand._

The memory surfaced in Kuol's mind again. He hadn't seen Andy in so much raw pain before, even as he was dying. Kuol wondered if Rena knew how much her husband loved her. Six weeks had passed since December 13, 2009. Now Andy's life was on the line instead of Kuol's. He was about to speak to the motionless form of Rena Yablonski when David appeared into the waiting room. The young surgeon ushered Rena over.

"He's stabilized now," David was saying in an undertone. Neither of them noticed Kuol listening. "He's still in the ICU. Pam's is watching him now."

"Is there any change?" Rena asked. She folded her arms across her chest.

"Not that we know of, and that's a good thing." David added. "He brain function didn't cease. There is something we need to show you though, Rena."

"What do you have to show me?"

"All I can tell you here is that we saw something in a x-ray. We need you to see it. We need answers, Rena." An understanding seemed to cross between them, and Rena nodded.

"Can I come too?" Kuol asked.

"Yes, you can come." David was the one who answered, and Kuol eagerly followed.

Dr. David Lee didn't expect that Andy had secrets. The transplant team – which consisted of him, Dr. Jordan, Miranda, Pam, and Ryan – knew that Andy was separated from his wife and lived in the hotel across from the hospital. He even suspected that everyone in Three Rivers knew about Andy's living quarters. David had been surprised last night when a radiologist asked to see him. Was there something that he had missed on the MRI he had thought. He had ordered one done as soon as Andy was stabilized from the crash earlier that day. There had seemed to be no internal damage, and the hemothorax was taken care of. What was wrong? David had been struck speechless as the radiologist grimly showed him the scars that molded Andy's bones. He also saw evidence of burn scars. The radiologist even added the some of scars were thirty years old.

Rena and Kuol followed David's swift pace behind him. He suspected that Rena knew about Andy's scars. He hoped that she would tell him, Miranda, and the radiologist how the scars had come about, and catch the sick bastard that did that to Andy. David led Rena and Kuol to the radiology department, and paused only to open the door to the room that would show them Andy's scarred body.

"Hey," stated a soft voice. It was Miranda, and she didn't glance at him. Her gaze was focus was on the screen.

"Hey," David retuned. He didn't know what to say, and the radiologist was pacing uncomfortably. "Well, Rena, we found evidence of a bone fracture in your husband's arm," David began. "But that's not all we found. The radiologist, Miranda, and I found evidence of many bone fractures over an extended period of time." Rena nodded slightly, and Kuol stared at the MRI and x-rays with wide eyes. He was unusually silent.

"What do you mean by evidence of bone fractures? Are you saying that there are scars?" Rena asked.

"Yes," stated the radiologist before David could respond. "Bones are alive, Detective, and like any other tissue, they heal. Some of them leave scars." She pointed to the tibia and ulna. "I could see that there were many scars on these two bones, and on the clavicle. All of these bones were broken more than twice, as were many bones in his hands and fingers. I also saw evidence of burn scars. The skin is a tissue, and is the largest organ in the body," she added to Kuol's questioning gaze.

"Did you find anything else?" Rena asked. Her face remained passive and calm.

The radiologist nodded. "I found that Dr. Yablonski has scar tissue around the tibialis anteriores and the calves, the lower muscles in the leg. The scars show that they are seventeen years old." She fell silent.

"We also found that Andy has an extensive medical history." Miranda added. She was burning with anger. "From the years 1980 to 1992 he was admitted to various hospitals because of bone fractures, burns, and the like. Each time he was signed out against medical advice. The scars are still there. Then in 1993, he was operated on because of two shot wounds through the legs. Rena, is there something Andy didn't tell us?"

"He didn't want you to know," Rena said. She glanced at the MRI and multiple x-rays. "Andy didn't want to think of him differently because of what he had been though. He wasn't ashamed, if that's what you're thinking," she added to their stares. "He just didn't want you to know. Andy was abused as child, from ages two to sixteen." David nodded. Although shocked, he thought as much. He looked at Miranda, and saw that she was nodding too. Kuol was silent as well, and now sadness marked his face. Rena continued. "I didn't meet him until we were five years old. I remember that he sat alone from the others. He was so small." She smiled faintly at the memory. "He was quiet, and no one noticed him except me. I saw his face, marked with black and blue bruises. His clothes were filthy and baggy on him. His shoes were stained and his lips were cracked. I should have noticed the signs then, but I didn't, not then.

"He needed me, I thought, and I didn't realize how much _I _depended on him. Even now," she added softly. David observed that her face was now marked by another emotion. "Andy wants a life to live. He wants a family and a home, just as he did when he was an abused and lost child. That's why we separated," Rena told David. "I thought that if he separated from me, he would find out he was already with his family, and he had a home…but he seems more confused than ever."

"You didn't tell us how the scars from the bullet wounds came from though," David added. She was hiding something.

"You're going to have to ask him that," Rena replied.

"Is there anything else we should know?" Miranda asked softly.

"Yes," Rena replied. "His name…" she faltered suddenly, and she allowed herself to calm. "He was known as Andrew back then."

David, Miranda, and Pam were in Andy's hospital room. Rena was beside Andy's hospital bed, clutching his hand. It had been three days since Andy had been rushed to the ER, three long and chaotic days. Dr. Jordan had visited Andy only briefly, as did Lisa. Kuol was on the roof, thinking, as Andy would have done. His condition had not changed., however much they wanted it too

"Do you know how did this too him?" Miranda asked Rena.

"Michael Zelasko and Casper McLeay," she murmured. Rena didn't look at Miranda. "We have them in custody." She had told them that Michael was person who had abused Andy as a child.

"I can see why Andy doesn't like to be called Andrew," Pam observed. She watched Rena's and Andy's entwined hands with a smile. "The name reminds him too much about this past."

"We'll have to tell Luc that, won't we?" David said with a small laugh.

Rena didn't respond as Andy's family laughed at David's joke. Her mind still revolved around Andy. Would he ever wake up? Would she see his smile again? She was beginning to realize that her feelings for him were still there, once locked away and now surging forth. She squeezed his hand. Her hand received a response. Rena felt Andy's hand weakly squeeze her own.

"Andy?" she murmured. She stroked his damaged face with her other hand, and his eyes slowly opened. Blurry and cloudy blue eyes stared back at her. He blinked, trying to focus. "Rena…?" He gasped. His voice was hoarse and weak. She squeezed his hand again, and saw their wedding rings close together. She couldn't see them clearly because of her tears.


	8. Chapter 8

Andy's world was overtaken by pain as he gained consciousness. Even though his eyes were closed, he could still see the light. The man inwardly cringed from the brightness. He also tried to move without much success. It was as if the nerves in his arms and legs were modified from the agony from his body. Andy lied still then, listening to the voices he had become familiar to him from the years working at Three Rivers. He heard David, Pam, and Miranda laughing, and he felt a soft hand on his own. How many days had he been here? He heard the beep of the heart monitor and felt the IV tube in one of his arms. Another tube produced from his chest as well, he could vaguely feel it. Andy hadn't remembered very much of what happened during his fight with Casper. He only felt stabbing pain in his fractured ulna and tibia. He also felt the burning agony around his umbilical area. The chest tube also told a story. _"My heart is gone, anyway." _That was what he had said before the ex-con, Casper, had almost killed him. Andy thought that he was going to die as he had lied there in the snow, seeing red. Despair had overcome him before he was taken to the darkness. The hand entwined in his own comforted him that he was in the present. He, Andy, was safe. The hand was soft, and warmth radiated from the hand. There was something comforting of how the hand fit into his own. He felt a squeeze from it, and without thinking, Andy managed to squeeze back.

"Andy…?" He heard Rena's voice. She sounded breathless, as if she hadn't gotten her breath. Her voice ached with hope. His wife still clutched his hand, and he felt her soft fingers on his face. Perhaps if he managed to open his eyes, Rena would be assured. He opened his eyes slowly. Pain and light from the sun almost blinded him, and he was about to close his eyes again when he saw her. Andy blinked, trying to focus his blurry gaze. He saw her brown eyes, the very eyes that he loved. Her hair was long and beautiful as it had been when he last saw her. Andy felt her delicate fingers stroke his damaged face, as if to calm him. Rena was tense, he could see. He had never seen her that way before. She was always the strong one, while he was the one who cried and who was sensitive. Now their roles seemed to have been reversed.

"Rena…?" He gasped. It was hard to talk. His voice was hollow and small. His injured face almost made it impossible for him to speak. Around him, he heard his friends talk quietly. He couldn't hear their words clearly, but that didn't matter. Andy gazed at his wife. She squeezed his hand tenderly again, and saw that their wedding rings were close together. A tug of grief – not pain – almost overtook him again, and he saw with startled eyes that Rena was crying. Thick tears flowed down her face onto his hospital bed. He felt some of her tears fall onto his face. He tasted them, and he could almost feel the sadness and pain that was held within each one. Rena was biting her lip, as if trying to hold in a scream. Rena never cried. Andy thought he heard Pam trying to comfort her, but neither of them were aware of it. Tears started to form in his own eyes, and he was blinded again. He tried to stop them as Rena did, but they started to form more quickly. They flowed from his eyes like a flood. Vaguely Andy felt his wife's gentle touch on his face again, brushing away the tears. He blinked again, trying to focus. Rena's now-red-rimmed eyes stared into his own. She smiled gently at him, with the same gentle smile that he had not seen in so long.

"I'm here," Andy whispered hoarsely to her. Tears marred his vision again, and this time Rena didn't wipe them away. She squeezed his hand. _"I'm here."_

Dr. Luc Bovell and Dr. Sophia Jordan didn't know what to expect when they both got a page from Pam. They both knew that Andy had crashed. He still remained in the ICU, and although the physicians wouldn't admit it, they were giving up on their friend and colleague. Luc hadn't told Andy's patients anything about the status of their beloved doctor. He simply evaded their questions, and wished enviously that he had Andrew's charming manner. Luc was awkward and somewhat insensitive when it came to comforting patients. _How can I comfort them with Andrew's death when I can't even comfort them in their darkest moments? _Luc had thought frustratingly as his cell phone vibrated. He stared with dull eyes at the communication devise, expecting the worst, when he saw the typed words, _Andy's awake. His BP is low, and his pulse is high. You need to come. _At first, Luc didn't comprehend. Then the words seemed to click in his brain. He held a breath that he didn't know that he had been holding, and looked over at Sophia. An unusual smile was on her face, and she nodded to Luc when he met her gaze.

"He's awake, Sophia." Luc said breathlessly. He was startled from the joy radiating from his voice.

For once, Dr. Sophia Jordan didn't react when her younger colleague addressed her by her name. She only said, "Yes, he is."

Dr. Andrew Yablonski was quiet when his colleagues came into his hospital room. Luc noticed that his hand was entwined in his wife's, who hadn't left. _Rena, _Luc thought with a smile. He remembered her as a recent police academy graduate. She had come to say goodbye to Andrew before her first day of work as a police officer. Andrew had been a first-year resident then, still charming and handsome. Even then he had been an amazing surgeon. Dr. William Foster constantly praised him when the resident was out of ear-shot, and stated more than once that _"Andy reminds me of my best friend."_ At an early age Rena and Andrew had been married. Luc recalled how both their eyebrows had raised in annoyance – and later anger – when he called Rena sweetheart and her husband Andrew. Now they were not glaring at him. Andrew's face was still pale despite the transfusion, and half of his face was covered in gauze. He looked tired, almost as tired as the day when he had left Three Rivers. Swallowing hard, Luc remembered what Andrew had said. _"I'm not ill, Luc. I'm…" _He didn't even finish his sentence. Luc looked at Rena. The detective seemed calm enough despite the situation. She held her husband's hand, and stared curiously at the heart monitor. Luc cleared his throat, and she caught his eye. So did Andrew.

"Do you know what happened, Andrew?"

"Yes." Andrew's voice was hoarse and weak, trembling with fatigue. "I was beaten and almost killed in an alleyway. Before they left to assist in the ER, Miranda and David told me that I had a hemothorax and a concussion. I also had several fractured ribs and a fractured arm." He blinked his eyes, cloudy with exhaustion. "I also crashed three times. I've been incapacitated for three days until now." He fell silent and rested his eyes.

"Do you still want to die, Andy?" Rena asked. Luc and Sophia carefully watched her expression. Her question was sincere, and her grip on Andy's hand seemed to tighten.

"No," Andy replied without opening his eyes. "I'm home, Rena," he whispered, falling asleep. "I'm home…" It was only then did Rena loosen her grip on his hand.


	9. Chapter 9

_Chapter Nine_

Andy Yablonski had been in the ICU for a week now. The chest tube had been removed, and the heart monitor was now gone. The umbilical wound still pained him, especially when he walked under the supervision of Dr. Jordan and Pam. Rena was always by his side. She told him that Dr. Jordan believed that it would be another week before Andy could be discharged, and that he would be on medical leave for a month. Rena teasingly remarked that Dr. Jordan specifically mentioned that piece. Andy sighed. The absence of Rena's gentle touch unnerved him. She was gone now, interrogating Michael and Casper. She hoped to convict Casper of attempted murder, with Michael as an accomplice. Casper's assault on him was vivid in his mind. Andy remembered the rage in Casper's eyes as he cornered him in the alley. He enjoyed inflicting pain on Andy, just as he did when Andy was a child. Rena had told him something else, too. Michael had intentionally wanted to murder him, she said. _"I never cared about him. He was only a burden to me until he helped me out. Then he turned into someone I didn't recognize. Andrew became someone I didn't need anymore." _He had no remorse in his expression and voice., she said. Andy didn't know what to think. Even as a child, he suspected that Michael didn't care about him. The fourteen years of abuse was evidence. However, Michael paid for his entire medical school cost, all one hundred thirty-one thousand dollars. Didn't that count as something? He still wasn't certain how he felt about his uncle. Did _he_ care about _ him_, even though his uncle didn't give a shit? Since Rena left for her headquarters, Andy was silent. No one could make a conversation with him. It was as if he was a ghost, a shell of his former self. Koul was with him now, and they both were enjoying their silence. That was when Detective Ted Sandefur came into his hospital room.

"Dr. Yablonski, do you have a minute?" Both Koul and Andy looked up to see a detective flashing his badge around toward their eyes. Without waiting for a response, the detective sat in the chair beside Andy.

"Hello, Detective," Andy replied. He remembered the rude detective who had threatened to take away Koul's donation money for his heart transplant. Bitterness still stung in his throat when he thought of that meeting. _"You just made the greatest mistake of your life." _That had been a threat as well. He forced himself to remain civil, for Koul's sake. "You can stay here, Koul," he added calmly.

"I've heard about what happened to you, Dr. Yablonski, and I'm grateful to hear of your recovery from the assault. I need to ask some questions first, though. Do you know why I'm here?"

"Your parents committed an act of love, and nine months later –"

"Not that again, you smart ass." At the corner of his eye, Andy could see Koul struggling to not laugh. "I've come to talk to you about Michael Zelasko, your uncle."

"What does this have to do with me now? He's in prison now, waiting to be convicted."

"It has everything to do with you, Dr. Yablonski," Detective Sandefur was strangely passive. "You were attacked by Casper McLeay, a well known associate of your uncle." He leaned toward Andy and whispered, "I know more than you think I know, Dr. Yablonski. You have a choice, you know. You can hear the wake up call, or you can walk away." Those were the same words that Andy had used to convince Scott to take his heart, but yet the situations were very different. There meanings were different too, as different as summer to winter. Detective Sandefur wanted Andy to rat Michael Zelasko out. He could feel Koul's eyes observing him.

"Fine," he said. The hoarseness in his voice shocked him. "Just wait. I want td do something." He sighed deep from his chest, and swallowed. "Koul, I want you to get everyone here to my room."

"Why?" Koul had a question in his eyes, and his eyes were wide with concern at his friend who wouldn't meet his gaze.

"They deserve to know the truth, Koul, as do you. Now go."

He didn't speak again until his friends – no, his family – was there. He saw that Dr. Sophia Jordan was frowning, displeased with the detective standing in front of the hospital bed. Dr. Miranda Foster was glaring as well, animosity clear in her gaze. Dr. David Lee was expressionless, observing his friend who wouldn't meet his gaze. Ryan and Pam were cautious and confused. They had no idea why Andy had called them over.

"My first memory was when my uncle was holding me by my ankle." Andy's voice was strangely voiceless, in a monotone. "He was hanging me in the air. I remember him screaming at me. I think he was intoxicated, because I was afraid than ever before. I all ready felt the bruises that he had given me in those few minutes. I don't remember what he was angry about, but I remembering crying and screaming in pain as he collided my head against the wall. I remember the agony. I was two years old. I don't remember a time before then. I don't even know how my parents died. Michael was the only person I remembered as a toddler. The abuse steadily got worse when I entered school. He became angry at the teachers who remarked on my long absences from school, and the fact that I had a friend." Andy paused. No one spoke. "I remember specifically when he told me that I didn't deserve friends because I was nothing. I would always be nothing. I remember that Rena, my lone friend, was my only refuge. Everyone else at school harassed me for my malnourishment and loneliness. I didn't speak very much, and they avoided me because of my ceaseless injuries. I was an outcast. I don't know how to describe the pain I felt every day of my childhood and adolescence. It was hard to breathe sometimes, and I felt consumed with fear and rage, and I was numb. I didn't know love until I met Rena. She was always there for me in my early years.

"When I was sixteen, Michael wanted me to become a buglar for him. He wasn't young as he used to be, and he finally had a use for me. He promised me that he would stop the abuse if I helped him. He told me that we were family…and I believed him." Andy swallowed the tears that were threatening to spill. "Rena left me, and I became a criminal." Andy clutched his hospital sheets tight. He couldn't let them go. "I remember when I was shot. Casper and another one of Michael's associates were the ones that did it. I was able to open my eyes that day to see what I was actually doing. I only was a thief to forget my own pain and to heal the hole in my heart. That day…" Andy faltered. "That day…I was hanging by a thread, and wanted to start over again. I dropped my gun and said, _"My name is Andrew." _Then I was shot from behind. I remember waking up, alone again. Dull pain pulsed through my veins, and I thought I saw a man in a white coat. He was tall with a goatee. He wore glassed over his green eyes, and seemed worried. He looked at me and smiled as I fell into unconsciousness.

"Back then, I didn't know that the man was Dr. William Foster. After I started to recover, he helped me get back on my feet. He believed in me when no one else would, and he held me when I had nightmares during the night. " Andy closed his eyes and remembered the man who he had admired like the father he never had. "I loved Dr. Foster like the father I never had. He was there when I graduated from med school, he was at my wedding, and he was the teacher that I thought I didn't deserve. He didn't ask me to explain why I didn't explain my past, or why I considered life sacred. He didn't push me. He accepted me as I was…and I never got that from anyone, not even Rena." His voice was reduced to a whisper when he said her name. He closed his eyes. "I love her. I don't regret marrying her._ Never_ will I regret that. So why…" he whimpered like a child, holing in a scream. "Why can't I stand the pain? I can't make it go away. I'm still haunted by my past. I'm still running away. I won't be free…I won't be free until..." Tears marred his gaze, and he choked out a sob. "How could this happen to me?"

"Andy," a soft hand touched his shoulder, and he saw through swollen eyes that it was Sophia. "I have something to tell you too. During my affair with Dr. Foster, he would always mention his friend. He told me more than once that his friend's name would be on the board if he had lived. He told me and Luc many times that you reminded him of his friend so much.

"Why?" Andy whispered.

"Just by being there, Andy. Just by being you. Your father was great doctor and a great man."

Andy's brow furrowed in confusion. "My father?"

"Yes," Sophia replied calmly. "Your father's name was Daniel Yablonski. He was a transplant surgeon, like you. Daniel was an immigrant from Poland, and Dr. Foster always remembered your father's thick Eastern European accent. I can't tell you how many times he complimented on your father's skills, skills that could be compared to yours, Andy. When I asked him how your father died, Dr. Foster stiffened. It was as if a wound had pierced him through his myocardium. _"He died in a car accident with his wife and their young son," _was his only reply. He didn't mention that you survived. Your mother was also a physician. She was very beautiful, and looked very much like Dr. Reed. Maybe that's why you like her so much," she added with a small smile. Andy was watching her intently. "She was good-natured like you, and never gave up on her patients. Her name was Erin Zelasko." Sophia noticed how Andy flinched at the last name. "I'm certain she didn't want you to go to her brother. She hadn't spoken to him in years, ever since he ran away," she added soothingly. "She loved you and your older brother Logan very much." Silently, she slipped a picture underneath Andy's fingers. He didn't register that the picture was there. He didn't' notice that anyone there. "You are home, Andy," Sophia whispered. "You always have been." She broke free from her touch and looked away from the young surgeon. She nodded to the others. All of them, including the detective, understood that Andy needed to be alone for a while.

"Andy." Sophia was shocked to see Rena walk swiftly to her husband's room. Her face was tense, and her brown eyes were deep in sadness. She touched her husband's arm, the same arm that Sophia had touched.

Andy seemed to notice that his wife was there, and said, "What is it?"

"Michael's dead." Rena gently stroked her husband's face, which was now white and his lips trembled. "Hung himself. I'm sorry, Andy."

It was late at night. During that night, Andy had told Rena everything that Dr. Jordan had told him about his parents and their connection with Dr. Foster. Rena had listened patiently when Andy's voice shook or when uncontrollable sobs rendered his voice useless. She was listening to him now, as he talked about his uncle, Michael, who was dead. He didn't understand why he felt grief for such a terrible man, but Rena was able to calm him by stroking his hair. Andy wondered if that's what his mother did when he was little.

Suddenly, Rena took his hand, and gently pulled his body toward him. She put his finger to his lips. He could see her smile, and she kissed him, gently. The kiss was sweet and warm, soft as velvet. He could feel Rena's feelings for him in that kiss, and he felt the pain and sadness in the touch as well. She broke free from him then, and whispered, "I love you, Andy." He nuzzled her neck, and felt her racing heartbeat. He whispered in her ear, feeling his own racing heartbeat, "I love you too." He kissed her cheek, then her mouth, warm to his touch, deepening the kiss, and melting away all the feeling they had inside.


	10. Epilogue

_Epilogue_

_ December, 2011_

Dr. Andy Yablonski stared at the picture that he held in front of him. It was the picture that Dr. Jordan had given to him, almost a year ago now. The picture was frayed around the edges, but Andy paid no attention to that. His father smiled at him in the photo. At first glance, Andy thought he was looking at himself. Then he noticed subtle differences. Daniel Yablonski had brown eyes while Andy had blue. His father's hands were slightly smaller than his own, and had a slight crooked smile that was different from his son's. His wife, Andy's mother, was beside him. Erin Zelasko did look uncannily like Dr. Lisa Reed. Dr. Jordan had told him earlier at work that morning that his mother had the same temperament as she. Andy's mother's long blonde hair was tied in a ponytail, and her white coat was loose around her body. She held her arms around her eldest son tenderly, never letting him go. Logan looked very much like his father, even more than Andy himself. It saddened his younger brother that he could not remember his mother, father, or older brother. _Perhaps it was meant to be, _Andy reminded himself. He looked carefully at the youngest of the four people in the photo. The toddler was in his father's arms, smiling. The boy, Andrew Jason Yablonski, truly seemed to be happy.

Andy turned to find his wife standing beside him. He faintly smiled, and beckoned her to come over. Her kissed her tenderly on the cheek, and let his touch linger there, as if to remind himself that she was still there. Almost a year had passed since Andy had arrived in the ER near death. Nothing had changed much in the hospital he worked at, however, the patients noticed that their beloved doctor had an ease about him that he didn't have before. Andy didn't live in the hotel across from Three Rivers anymore. He lived with his wife, in their house, when a year before people didn't believe him. Now they did. Rena softly took his hand and whispered, "I want to show you something," she whispered. Andy nodded, slightly confused but complying. She motioned him to move his left ear to her abdomen. He didn't hear anything at first. Then, softly, he heard it. Two faint heartbeats rhythmically echoed in his own ear. Andy slowly pulled away, and felt a smile growing on his face.

"You're pregnant?" He whispered to her. She slightly nodded with a smile on her lips. Her felt her sweet breath in his ear. He heard her whisper, "I love you."

"I love you too."

Seven months later on June 24, 2012, Alan Daniel Yablonski and Simone Erin Yablonski were welcomed into the world.


End file.
